Don’t let ice build up in your freezer. With the aluminum foil technique, your appliance will be defrosted in just a few minutes.
While the freezer is essential in a kitchen for preserving food, it can also have a major drawback: ice buildup. This buildup of frost is not only unsightly, but it also reduces the energy efficiency of the appliance, takes up space in the freezer and can make the defrosting process long and laborious.
A frost-free freezer is a rare occurrence. Over time and with use, freezers often end up building up ice on the walls. When this happens, a quick cleaning is essential to ensure the appliance is working properly. The manufacturers of this appliance recommend cleaning it every six months. But depending on the level of ice buildup, you may need to do it more frequently. A good rule of thumb is to clean it every time the layer of ice exceeds half an inch.
One of the most common ways to remove ice from your freezer is to empty it and unplug it until it defrosts. But this isn’t the most practical because it can take a while. You can also scrape the ice off with a wooden spatula, but this isn’t practical, and it’s not the most effective method. There’s another really simple, quick, and surprisingly effective trick: using aluminum foil.
Start by covering the walls of the freezer with sheets of aluminum foil, making sure that all the ice is covered. Put some water to heat in a saucepan. Be careful, the saucepan must be large enough to then fit in the freezer with the door closed. When the water boils, place the saucepan in your freezer and close the door.
After just a few minutes, open the freezer and simply remove the ice with a spatula. It won’t take any effort. If there are areas where the ice still seems stuck, soak a cloth in warm water and wipe it over aluminum foil. Once the freezer is free of ice, clean it with white vinegar.
This trick works because aluminum foil is a good conductor of heat and will help distribute the hot temperature of the pan with water throughout the freezer, which will melt the ice faster. Time saving guaranteed!